TV Review: Netflix’s ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’

Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why has captured the hearts of many young adults back when it was first published in 2007. It hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list in July 2011.

Now six years later, it is a Netflix Original series coming out in the month of April. On top of this, Selena Gomez is the executive producer and driving force to make this novel come to life.

The cast stars up and coming actors such as Dylan Minnette (Clay Jensen) and Katherine Langford (Hannah Baker) as the two main characters.

From an outside perspective of someone who never read the book, I was so drawn into the series. Knowing already the main plot, which is when a 17 year old girl kills herself after being bullied and makes 13 tapes describing in detail why she killed herself. These tapes then get sent to the people who surrounded her death as they all must make a decision to either hide or make justice.

The acting itself is very powerful to watch. This Netflix miniseries features all new actors. But the emotions felt were real. It was also hard to go through and watch something so honest as this show was. I think we all can say that it brought back high school experiences we dealt with whether we wanted to or not.

Also the remixes of classic songs such as from Elliott Smith and Echo and the Bunnymen were not a great addition. I totally get them trying to relate to this generation and stir in the millennial pot. But please stick to the original before ruining a great song.

The show goes into a spiral of different sequences that then lead into a trial case and the big secret reveals. It will definitely leave you aching from all the honesty this show portrayal of what goes through a young adult’s life when dealing with something so drastic.

This just goes and show how much we still need to help with those who suffer depression or even mental illnesses. These type of things do not deserve to be pushed under the rug. So be sure you know what you are getting yourself into before turning on the tv or opening up your laptop.

This is not another teenage love drama, but a serious problem. The series were directed by multiple directors including Jessica Yu and Kyle Patrick Alvarez including the support of such an incredible cast.